(Kimberly (she/her) took the express train down the fountain pen/stationery rabbit hole and doesn't want to be rescued. She can be found on Instagram @allthehobbies because there really are many, many hobbies!.)
Thought I’d keep it simple and (relatively) short for this Christmas week post and write out the poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas”, more commonly known as “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas” by Clement Clarke Moore. I used my 48 currently inked pens to write out the 56 lines on 52gsm Thin Paper by Kokuyo.
A Visit from St. Nicholas, by Clement Clarke Moore
‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;
The children were nestled all snug in their beds;
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads;
And mamma in her 'kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled our brains for a long winter's nap,
When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.
The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow,
Gave a lustre of midday to objects below,
When what to my wondering eyes did appear,
But a miniature sleigh and eight tiny rein-deer,
With a little old driver so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment he must be St. Nick.
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name:
"Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! now Prancer and Vixen!
On, Comet! on, Cupid! on, Donder and Blitzen!
To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!
Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!"
As leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky;
So up to the housetop the coursers they flew
With the sleigh full of toys, and St. Nicholas too—
And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
As I drew in my head, and was turning around,
Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound.
He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;
A bundle of toys he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a pedler just opening his pack.
His eyes—how they twinkled! his dimples, how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard on his chin was as white as the snow;
The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke, it encircled his head like a wreath;
He had a broad face and a little round belly
That shook when he laughed, like a bowl full of jelly.
He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself;
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread;
He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled all the stockings; then turned with a jerk,
And laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose;
He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight—
“Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night!”
Here are all the inks that were used to write out this poem:
— Montblanc Antoine de Saint-Exupery Encre du Desert
— Diamine, Flowers, Burgundy Rose
— Diamine Matador
— KWZ x UK Pen Shows, Beefeater Red
— Robert Oster x Endless Pens, New Year New Hue
— Pelikan Edelstein Turmaline
— Vanness Pens Hissy Fit
— Pelikan Edelstein Rose Quartz
— Wearingeul x Atlas Stationers Twelfth Night
— J Herbin Rouille d’Ancre
— Sailor Ink Studio 273
— Iroshizuku Yu-yake
— Pelikan Edelstein Mandarin Orange
— TWSBI Tangerine
— Robert Oster x Pen Chalet Antelope Canyon
— KWZ x Fontoplumo, Monarch
— Bungubox Mikkabi Mandarin Orange
— Robert Oster 1980s Honey Bee
— Wearingeul Stonecutter’s Song
— Robert Oster Caffe Crema
— Sailor 50 States, Texas
— Robert Oster x Cult Pens Dartmoor Brown
— Papier Plume Bad, Bad Leroy Brown
— Robert Oster x Vanness Pens Venom
— J Herbin Vert Olive
— Wearingeul The Secret Garden
— Anderillium Cephalopod, Spirula Green
— Diamine Music, Beethoven
— Kobe #34 Sorakuen Tea Green
— Pelikan Edelstein Apatite
— Bungubox June Bridge Something Blue
— Robert Oster Australis Hydra
— KWZ Walk Over Vistula
— Robert Oster Lake of Fire
— Kobe #50 Kyomachi Legend Blue
— Diamine 150th Anniversary, Blue Velvet
— Sailor 50 States, Illinois
— Pelikan Edelstein Tanzanite
— Robert Oster Aussie Cities in Colour, Adelaide
— Vinta Inks x Enigma Stationery, Tabuan Purple Sea Star
— Wearingeul Grape-colored Night
— Vinta Inks Lavender Payapa
— Monteverde Purple Reign
— Montblanc Lavender Purple
— Franklin-Christoph Black Cherry
— Diamine Amazing Amethyst
— Pelikan Edelstein Amethyst
— Platinum Chou-kuro
Whether you celebrate Christmas or not, I wish you a very happy holiday season!!
